Grand Chess Tour Finals 2026 Begin With Two Classical Draws

The 2026 Grand Chess Tour Finals semifinals opened with draws as Praggnanandhaa held Keymer and Wesley So drew with Fabiano Caruana in St. Louis.

The 2026 Grand Chess Tour Finals have begun in St. Louis, bringing together the four best players of this year's tour: Praggnanandhaa R, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Vincent Keymer. Both semifinal matches started with draws in the first classical game.

The Finals are a knockout. Praggnanandhaa plays Keymer and Caruana plays So in the semifinals, and the winners meet in the final. Each match has two classical games, two rapid games and four blitz games. Not every game is worth the same. A classical win earns 6 points, a rapid win 4 points and a blitz win 2 points. Draws earn half of those amounts. The idea is to reward the slower, deeper classical games most.

In game 1, Vincent Keymer had the white pieces against Praggnanandhaa and chose the English Opening. Praggnanandhaa defended well and held the draw. In the other match Wesley So, with White, faced Fabiano Caruana's French Defense. The game went into the Exchange Variation, a solid line where both sides have symmetrical pawns, and it also ended in a draw.

Praggnanandhaa arrives in excellent form. Earlier this month he won the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz and finished second at the Sinquefield Cup after losing to Wesley So only in an Armageddon game. So arrives as the Sinquefield Cup champion.

The scoring system offers a useful lesson. Knowing how a tournament scores games should affect your plans. In this match a classical win is worth three times a blitz win, so players might take more care in the classical games and save riskier ideas for blitz. In your own events, always read the rules before round 1: how many rounds there are, how ties are broken, and whether there are any special scoring rules.

The second classical game follows, with Praggnanandhaa and Caruana taking the white pieces.